Joel Embiid hasn't scrimmaged at Sixers training camp as he continues 'slowly building back up'

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct 3, 2024

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NASSAU, Bahamas — Joel Embiid has yet to scrimmage at 76ers training camp.

The 2022-23 NBA MVP reiterated that he’ll be more proactive in managing his health this season after he was asked about playing with Paul George.

“I haven’t played,” Embiid said Thursday after the morning practice at Atlantis Paradise Island. “I’ve just been doing a lot of drills. But I haven’t actually played.”

The 7-foot-2 center played in just 39 games last season largely because of a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee.

He returned with seven games left in the regular season. But he was still limited by the injury then and during the team’s first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks. He also continued to don a knee brace while helping Team USA win a gold medal in this summer’s Paris Olympics.

“I think I’m slowly building back up,” Embiid said of his knee. “I think that’s the main thing, slowing building back up. And go from here.”

But as arguably the league’s most dominant player, the seven-time All-Star’s presence alone gives the Sixers their best opportunity to contend for a championship. That’s why the often-injured player is determined not to rush back, especially after last season.

Embiid injured his knee in a road loss against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 25. That led him to miss road losses to the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, on Jan. 27 and 29.

He returned Jan. 30 in a road loss to the Golden State Warriors and suffered the cartilage tear after playing without mobility, having little lift, and, at times, being a liability. That raised questions about whether the tear was the result of returning too soon.

The same concern was raised after Embiid returned from the first injury late in the season.

As a result, the 30-year-old Embiid intends to take it easy until he’s ready to play.

“Even going back to when we signed the last extension, they made sure to let me know that they have my back and they understand and they know me,” said Embiid, who signed a three-year, $192.9 million contract extension on Sept. 20. “I’ve already accomplished a lot. A lot of things, everything. Then there’s one thing [an NBA title] missing, and they just know that that’s all I care about.”

But Embiid has said similar things before, only to give in to his competitiveness and jeopardize his health. There have been nights when the All-Star center played despite being scheduled to take the night off for rest.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said of not playing. “But they know that if they have to punch me and slap me or take my stuff away for me not to get on that floor, they are going to have to do it.

“I might get mad. I might curse people out. But I think it’s a relationship. We’ve been working together for years now. I think now I look at the big picture.”